Method of making fiber products



5, 1952 G. A. GERARD 2,584,693

METHOD OF MAKING FIBER PRODUCTS Filed Sept. 11, 1948 IN VEN TOR. 7 George :Q. Gerard Patented Feb. 5, 1952 George A. Gerard, Short Hills, N. J., assignor to! Jiffy Manufacturing Company,,Hil1side,;N. J.,

a corporation of Delaware Application September 11, 1948, Serial N l ie-179 This invention..relatesnto improvements fin.

.fiber products having cushioning or insulatin characteristics such as those described in ,the

Gerard and Weisman Patent-No. 1,837,261 and to methods and machines for making such improved products. a

. Thegpad shown in the patent comprises.a wad ding of beaten or milled-waste paper enclosed between fabric sheets. The desirable insulating characteristics of the pad are due to the loose cuii'n. (Olin-29 By my invention-dry and finely-divided cementitious'material is first mixed-thoroughly in predetermined proportions with the fibrous material, which may be a beaten dry waste paper of the type described in the above Gerard and Weisman patent, namely, a material in which i flakes and short fibers are intermingled in interor fluffy nature of the wadding, since the wadding consists of a mixture of short fibers and intermingled flakes. As described in the patent, the method of manufacture contemplated the possibility of mixing the fibrous material with a liquid adhesive. In actual manufacture, however, the adhesive was omitted since it was discovered that the wadding, becauseof the interlocking relation of flakes and fibers, had sufiicient stability to hold together under most conditionscofuse, especially when incorporated in a completely sealed pad of the type shown in Fig. 5 of the Gerard and Gerard Patent No. 2,028,388. It was also found that the use of a liquid adhesive within the wadding tended to densify the wadding, and furthermore, tended to introduce excessive moisture into the pad. 0n the other hand, a pad manufactured without adhesive in the wadding was not ordinarily suitable for use as an openended pad, since the wadding would then tend to fall out.

An object of this invention is to produce, preferably from waste paper, a fibrous pad material with substantial cohesive properties, while preserving the softness of packing upon which the natural cushioning and insulating properties of such materials depend.

A further object is to develop a simple method for manufacturing pads filled with fibrous material in continuous sheets which may be cut into desired lengths and shapes without the exposed fiber filling falling out during manufacture or use. 7 The object is to avoid the added difiiculty and expense of sealing each individual pad at all its edges.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from the following description.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this application, Fig. 1 is a schematic side elevation of a machine adapted for manufacturing a pad of the fibrous material embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same machine, and Fig. 3 shows in a magnified cross-sectional view the loosely cohesive mass of fibrous material produced by this invention.

locking relationship. In the manufacture of pads the-fiber cover, which may, for example, be of kraft paper, is moistened lightly on the inside surface'and the mixture of cementitious and fibrous materials is put in place upon the moistened fiber cover. Then the whole combination is heated to vaporize'the moisture on the inside of the cover whereby the vapor passes. up through the mass of the fiber-cementitious material mixture and causes the fibers to cement together at ;a..number of the contact points between adjacent thoroughly intermingled in a mixing chamber with a finely-powdered cementitious material, e. g. an inexpensive dry glue made of starch. The glue is somewhat hygroscopic so that it will pick up moisture readily during the later vaporizing step. I have found that for the insulating and cushioning pads desired in most applications an amount of starch glue equal to about five to twenty percent of the mixture weight provides proper cohesiveness while preserving the other desirable properties of the finished pad.

The fibrous-cementitious materials mixtureis introduced into the hopper 4. At 6 is a supply roll of sheet fabric, preferably kraft paper, usable for the cover of pads. The sheet fabric 8 from the roll 6 passes through the rolls I0 and I2, the upper one 12 being a moistening roll. A wick M or other suitable means is used to impart steadily a small amount of moisture to the central, or larger radius part of the roll I 2. The roll [2 transmits the moisture to the center portion of the fabric sheet 8. The amount of moisture used is preferably small, and only suflicient to produce, in the wadding, a vapor concentration adequate for satisfactory absorption by the glue particles.

The fabric sheet 8 moistened on the upper side passes on below the hopper 4, which feeds onto the fabric sheet a continuous layer It of the fibercementitious material mixture. A liquid adhesive material is fed in a narrow strip onto one upper edge of the sheet fabric. This may be done as shown by any suitable means, indicated by a roll 3 ,7 20. The sheet fabric 8 then passes between the convoluted plates 24 which roll the outer edges of the sheet back into face-to-face contact with each other, thereby forming a closed pad 25. The roll 28 presses fiat the continuous pad and cements together the opposite edges of the cover sheet fabric along; the-seam to which adhesive was appliedearlier at point l8. 'The continuou's pad 26 now is passed over a heating plate 30 against which the pad is pressed by a canvas-berths:-

32 driven by rollers 34. Duringcthepassage oij the, pad over the heating plate thewaporixed moisture rises through the masssoiflber fll'lera The small particles of the dryzi-starch glue:absorb the moisture and join together adjacent fibers at a few contact points. Asrshown in Fig. 3 the V fibers 36 and intermingled flakes 38 are glued to- .V

ting. For example, the knife 42 controlled by any suitable timing means (not shown) may cut oil pads transverse to the direction of motion of the continuous pad 26. Also, the original fabric sheet 8 as it comes from the supply roll 6 may have ventilating perforations. The fiber mass has suf ficient'vcohestv'enfess to prevent-the: filler. fibers from shaking out through -th e cover "oflthe pad in its final form. Since the preferred cementitiousmaterial is a cheap dry starch glue, the pad inaybeeconomically manufactured in substantially anynesiredrorm.

liavingathusdescribed my invention, I claim: Tire-method oi -"making a fiber product, which consists in mixing a dry, finely-divided hygroscopic cementitious material with inter-locked gether at a few discrete points by small particles of cementitious material 40 which are indicated-1 as small-dots in the dr-aW-ing.

The amount of moisture-is of some importance, since=adequate moisture must be provided to d-isthe moisture is absorbed by the-- g1ue,'.-and the excess is -believed to condense withimoor-tq be absorbed by, the p articles of l the paperwadding.

short fibers and flakes of beaten paper, moistening the center portion of a strip of backing paper, depositing the resultant mixture on the moistl ened shet ofbacking i material, applying: heat solve, or at least to soften the individual-glue: particles. It will beappreciatedthatnotall ofi -The presence of this moisture in-the wedding; however; is-notof any: consequence, .especiallykin; view :of the-dry; nature ofthe-beaten papen V The I actualquantity of vmoisture is not-eritical how-c over asfairly wide range,- andto"supply adequate' moisture-for the'glue" particles; while still maintaining .the essentially =drynatureof the-pad;;1t' self;-

everpand-it:has:been found possibletovaryit:

There is thu's produced a continuous pad withj a cohesive fiber filling permitting the pad" to -b'e- -a cut off into 'convenient lengths'or-shapeswithout 7 loss of the-filli'ng 'at the edg'es 'exposedby tliecut Number c Name Datez 111,465 MayalI .-.ls Jam-3i, 18'1'1 758243 Goldina lue-Ju esApr-26; 1-904 '988;95' 1- Till dle first; 'F'eb, 1411911 13251-364: cranediscontent- 1 1918 

